Page 78 of Savage Little Secret

“What’s wrong, milaya?” Dmitri asks me.

I didn’t even realize that my face had fallen. “I was just thinking about what you said to me before I left town.”

Dmitri frowns in realization. He immediately starts shaking his head before crouching in front of me, his hands resting on my thighs as he gazes up at me. “I didn’t mean a word that I said. I thought pushing you away would keep you safe from my enemies. I didn’t realize that I was putting you in danger until it was too late.”

Warmth flickers in my chest as I place my hands on top of his. “Did you read my letter?”

Dmitri smiles, and it’s the best sight that I’ve seen in weeks. “I did. You cleared up a lot of things for me. Made me think about a lot.”

I gently bite into my bottom lip as I peer at him, wondering what all he considered. What he feels right now. “And?”

Dmitri leans up and presses his lips against mine, not minding the dried blood in the corners of my mouth. He draws back just a little so that our eyes can meet once more. “I love you, Cara. And I’m done pretending I don’t.”

My heart nearly beats its way out of my chest. For the first time in weeks, life feels good. Happy and hopeful and really, really good. The man I love saved me, and he loves me too.

This is the fantasy that I’ve been dreaming about for weeks now. I didn’t think that I would actually get to live it.

“You’re crying,” Dmitri murmurs, his smile faltering as he carefully wipes my tears away.

“It was awful, Dmitri,” I whisper to him as more tears tumble down my cheeks and drip off my jaw. A pained shudder rushes through my body, and the extent of my injuries starts to really weigh on me now that the adrenaline slowly leaves my system. “I thought I was going to die. I thought I would never see you again.”

Dmitri wraps his arms around me and pulls me against him in a firm but gentle embrace. He cups the back of my head, not minding how dirty and tangled my hair is. “I was so worried about you. I worked every single day to find you. I’m so sorry it took me so long.”

I wind my arms around him and squeeze as much as I can without hurting myself too much. It just feels good to be back in his arms again. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”

“Never,” Dmitri promises me.

We hold each other like that for a few seconds until we’re interrupted.

“Sorry to break up your reunion, lovebirds, but we need to haul ass out of here.”

I look over Dmitri’s shoulder, my jaw nearly dropping at the sight of the man standing behind him. “Luca?”

“We need to go. We’re all loaded up,” another voice says before Andrei steps out of the shadows to stand next to Luca.

I blink in shock, not expecting to see either of them. Or my father. “Did you decide to team up with everyone?”

Dmitri lets out a dry laugh as he stands up. “Trust me, I still have plenty of enemies. This is the dream team that I managed to scrape together.”

“Good to see you again, Cara,” Andrei tells me with a sympathetic look on his face. His shirt is dark with blood at his side.

Luca flashes a sly smile before shooting me a wink. “Sorry about my family, bella. Now you know part of why I don’t want anything to do with them.”

That clicks in my brain. Luca did mention being kicked out of his family. But why did they capture me?

“I need a full explanation,” I tell Dmitri, unable to complete the puzzle in my head. There are way too many missing pieces.

“We’ve got a long drive back to the city,” Dmitri replies. “I’ll sit in the back and tell you everything.”

“Shotgun,” Luca quips before throwing open the passenger’s door and hopping into the van.

“I’ll catch up with you tomorrow, Dmitri. I need some stitches,” Andrei says as he holds his left side. He throws up his other hand in a slight wave before walking away.

“I think a good bit of us need medical attention. Especially you,” Dmitri tells me as he takes a closer look at some of my injuries.

I glance around as the other vans and SUVs start taking off, not wanting to see his reaction to all the wounds. We shouldn’t linger here any longer. The last thing that I want is for something bad to happen after I just got rescued. “We can deal with that later. Let’s get out of here.”

An SUV slows down next to us, the passenger’s window rolling down. Sean peers at us through it. “I’m sure Cara needs her rest. Let’s meet tomorrow after she’s recovered.”